I think this is going to take three years to accomplish, but in the meantime, Canada will have to be very careful not to enter into an agreement to endorse this convention that would weaken our position. We have to put that whole convention on hold, and we have to work with other member countries to deal with this issue and to put it on the table as something that Canada is extremely concerned about.
We have to recognize as well that there are countries other than NAFO members that are fishing outside of 200 miles, and sometimes in the discussion we've been having around this table we may have lost sight of the fact that there are these so-called non-contracting parties. They're not so much out there today, but they have been in the past, and when the fish come back, we're going to have to be very concerned about these parties.
This is something that is probably going to take some time to do and is going to require a political commitment, and it's something that should be done now. The thing is that when these stocks come back, other countries will be poised to take advantage of that restoration. Northern cod is a good example. One of the big concerns I have with the recent decision of NAFO to open zone 3M for cod is that, for one thing, they have ignored the scientific advice and have set a higher quota. The whole opening of a quota in zone 3M, the Flemish Cap, provides an opportunity for countries to grow a Trojan horse. It provides a Trojan horse for countries to fish the northern cod stock in zones 2J and 3L. It is difficult for inspectors to know whether the fish was taken in zone 3L, in the nose and the tail, or whether it was taken on the Flemish Cap. When the fishery was closed on both the Flemish Cap and on 3L, the nose, it was very easy to determine that there was no cod fishery taking place, but now we have made that distinction a little more fuzzy.
The point that needs to be made is that as the fishery starts to rebuild, the pressure on Canada will be extremely great, so before we build the stocks, we have to solve this problem. If we don't solve this problem, the stocks won't recover.